MSNBC.com's PhotoBlog has posted a story on Scott Andrews, the unofficial guru of shuttle launch photography. Andrews has been devising and installing innovative remote camera rigs in the swamps of Florida to photograph shuttle launches, both for himself and for other photographers, for almost 30 years.

Andrews has developed many solutions to the unique problems of setting up remote cameras at Kennedy Space Center, which include natural and manmade hazards, as well as strict safety precautions that mean some cameras have to be set up and left unattended for days before a launch.

The story includes a time lapse video that Andrews, along with his son Philip Andrews and Stan Jirman, shot of Atlantis as it was prepped and moved to Launch Pad 39a prior to lifting off for the final time last week. (An MSNBC.com advertisement is shown before the time lapse begins.)

Go Time: A time lapse video showing Space Shuttle Atlantis being prepared and moved to Launch Pad 39a at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (Video courtesy of MSNBC.com)

Curiously, the article doesn't put Andrews's work in any context or give his current or former employment status. But he was for many years a Nikon USA technical representative who was tasked with assisting professional photojournalists assigned to shoot shuttle launches. In more recent times, he has served as a technical consultant to Canon.